Disney Hands Star Wars Comics Duties To Marvel

For over 20 years, Dark Horse was the publisher of Star Wars comics and graphic novels. In 2015, that will change.

Disney has announced that beginning next year, Marvel will take over publishing duties. “In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe,” said Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Last year, Dark Horse published The Star Wars #1, an adaptation of the original George Lucas rough draft screenplay for the film. The publisher has also expanded the universe with titles like Star Wars: Legacy and Star Wars: Dark Empire.

Our TakeThis news is a little off the beaten path for us, but it caught our attention because of Roeder’s quote (and because of the significant overlap in fandoms). Specifically mentioning Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca and a “new age of adventures” seems to hint at the direction Disney is taking the franchise. We suspect that the original cast might feature prominently in the new films, especially given the timing of Marvel’s takeover.